Santas Forbidden to Say 'Ho, ho, ho!'

[Dravyk]

We live in a sad fucked-up world sometimes.

PC rules blamed for Santa shortage

DISILLUSIONED by a growing list of rules imposed by recruiting agencies and shopping centres to guard against litigation, men who have brought smiles to the faces of thousands of young West Australians for decades are reluctantly deciding to call it quits.

They can't hand out lollies, they can't pat children on the head because of religious beliefs, they can't put children on their laps unless they get permission from parents and they can't have photographs taken with youngsters unless their hands are in full view.

So frightened have some Santas become of being sued that they are demanding extra helpers to act as witnesses just in case a complaint is made.

Santas are even being told not to go around saying 'Ho, ho, ho' because they may frighten children.

rest of story: http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story/0,20281,17456074-5001028,00.html

[Sin]

LOL

I'm not sure about the rest of the world, but around here, the parents usually have to take the kid to the Santa themselves (the Santa's sit in a fenced "Santa" Area) so the parental permission for pictures doesn't really strike me as a "new rule"

[Trev]

Finally something is being done to stop these freaks... anyone that wants to work with children is without a doubt a wacko in my book.

[Red]

This PC shit is getting so out of hand. Some stores will not allow employess to say Merry Christmas. It must be happy holidays only.
Schools are regulating which carols are allowed to be sung by choirs. It's absolutely ridiculous.

I grew up in a town that was 80% Jewish. The schools closed on Jewish holidays and bagels were sold in our cafeteria. I was in the choir and when we gave our holiday concerts we sang carols, even the very religious ones. We were not struck down by the rath of God, no one was insulted and no one complained.

[RyanLanane]

Funny Story - when I read the subject came to mind...

Missy goes around calling her friends "Ho"

Like "I'll talk to you later, Ho" etc, etc, etc..

My 2 year old daughter blurted out "HO" repeatedly (as she does when she learns all new words) for about 5 days. Thank god it was close to X-Mas and we started teaching her "HO-HO-HO" rather than just "HO"

A Save just in time, however...

When that particular friend comes around, she still screams emphaticaly...

"HOOOOO !!!!" LOL

[TheEnforcer]

You sure he just wasn't calling ther hookers over to talk to the kids?

[MorganGrayson]

There's a "you can't pat children on the head" religious belief???
What religion???

Once again, paranoia and the politically correct assholes are ruining the holidays for a lot of children.

All my kids have had their picture taken in Santa's lap. One or two of them weren't thrilled with the event, and the picture clearly shows the "my mother made me do this!" facial expression. One was wowed beyond belief and told Santa what to bring for everyone she knew. Santa was way cool with it.

A lot of parents find out what their kids really want for Christmas through the experience. That's always been part of a "professional Santa's" job. Listen to the child, then whisper the info to the parent...if the parent didn't hear it just by standing there.

I once had a very leggy, ex-model friend who always bemoaned the fact that as a child, she never got to sit in Santa's lap and have her picture taken. I took her to the mall to have her childhood wish fulfilled. I think the Santa was very, very, VERY happy for the break in his day.

"Ho, ho, ho" frightens children?

[Bhelliom]

My views on PC have been documented here before.

But to summarize... there is a line ... on one side... its ok everyone should be more careful about what they say to not offend people. On the other lies the people that go too far and trample my rights to free will...

I believe it came up before when trev said something about his neighbor forcing the schools to buy a second fridge so that her childrens food isn't contaminated by the other childrens... and not for health reasons... but for religious ones.

I will say no more on the subject.

[CDSmith]

A lot of people these days are too gawd-damned easily offended. Every little perceived slight seems to set them off.

All this politically correctness bullshit is getting carried wayyy too far, and of course greedy lawyers are all too ready to step in on your behalf should you want to capitalize on a situation that 30 years ago would have been "just one of those things."

Uhg... makes living in an isolated cabin like a hermit a very attractive lifestyle.... too many over-sensitive idiots in the world today.

[Dravyk]

Does anyone else recall some 20 years ago what it was like to pet a strange dog?

I do. You go down the street. Someone is walking the world's silliest happy dog, you stop you pet them. Owner beams.

Now, owners go down the street, pull the leash close in, move the dog to the other side, place their bodies as a barrier between you and the dog ...

Now, hey. Like anyone else I wouldn't want to get bitten. That said, back "in the day" when petting a dog was "Norman Rockwell" fucking NORMAL ... I don't think I got a bad bite once. Maybe a few teeth drags from being a kid and the dog wasn't so nice or maybe was a tad too playful. Period.

I do understand a lot of this shit came out of the late 80s inner city "train a pitbull to kill" shit. That coupled with the entire PC/lawyer bullshit that runs rampant in our society now, but still.

Petting a dog has gone out of style. Saying Merry Christmas and Ho ho ho is offensive. Give me a fucking break already! And this goes back to the peanut butter allergic folks too to some degree.

What are we going to do with the next generation? Spray wrap out kids in some kind of plastic bubble-wrap force field so my gawd, let them not fall down, pet a dog, smell peanut butter or hear Merry Christmas??!?!?!

This is just soooo NUTS!

[RyanLanane]

Dravyk - Simply put... Yes !!

The last few posts were great posts ... And these subjects are way to debatable for me after I have had a 6 pack (Sorry Nick) but American society is becoming more and more 'protective' while other countries are opening up more...

I have a daughter that is 2 years old, and I'm not sure if our parents thought about this or not. But my main thoughts tend to have been, prior to recently, things such as 'Wow what sort of amazing technology will my daughter see in her life?' - 'Will she be able to really live a life 2 times the average expenctancy we have right now? Will her children be able to, if not her?'

I used to see all good in the innovations our society has brought along as 'technology' but more and more I start to wonder if there isn't a HUGE cost our children and their children will have to pay for these 'innovations'.

[MorganGrayson]

Dravyk...the "dog" comments hit home. I remember when walking down the street was like that. Now, you can get that feeling in Petco, where the "normal" dog owners bring their dogs to interact with other normal dog owners, and petting and admiring is part of the ritual. (Dingo loves going there and sniffing noses with the other dogs...some of whom are 10 times her size.) But you're right. So many dogs aren't really "pets" now. They're weapons. Or people are so paranoid they're afraid of either being sued...or of a passerby harming their dog.

Ryan...nothing is "free." There's no such thing. Everything comes with a price tag, including all the marvelous technology and medical advances. In years past, if your child had an inflamed appendix, you had to worry about losing your child. Now, appendectomies are so simple and common that you don't have to worry about that anymore. Certain forms of cancer, that used to be a death sentence, have been reduced to "having a really bad day." The price for these advancements is having to live in the society that created them.

Ryan, I know more about *you* than I do my neighbors. I know that Dravyk is a born and raised Philadelphian. I couldn't for the life of me tell you where my neighbors are from orginally. (Most Californians are from somewhere else.) Would I be out visiting with my neighbors if I didn't have people I could chat to online? Well, probably not, but I'm not certain. That's a little sad. Technology gives us the ability to have more friends and acquaintances that we've never actually met...and takes away face-to-face "come on over and have coffee," which is the way it used to be to get human contact.

I don't know whether my parents worried about strangers or neighbors harming me or my siblings when we were little, but I know if they did, it wasn't with the intensity that I worried about my kids. One of the reasons was that they *knew* everybody in the neighborhood in which I grew up. I've purchased gifts for the baby and mother next door to me...and someday I'll work up the nerve to ask her what the hell her name is.